UK centenarian numbers rise steeply in a decade

The number of people living in the UK aged 100 increased by 73% in the decade to 2012, said the Office for National Statistics. In 2012 there were 13,350 centenarians living in Britain, from 7,740 in 2002. The ONS also said life expectancy in Britain had "reached its highest level on record for both males and females".

A newborn boy could live 78.7 years, and a girl, 82.6 years, if mortality rates stayed the same for 2010 and 2012 in the UK, it said. Meanwhile, a man aged 65 in the UK could expect to live for 18.2 years, a 40% increase in the 30 years to 2012, and a 65-year-old woman, for 20.7 years, a 25% increase.

The life expectancy gap between sexes had narrowed to four years, when it was measured between 2010 and 2012, from six years between 1980 and 1982, said the ONS. The latest ageing figures showed the changing nature of Britain's population, as the ONS reported more than half a million people aged 90 and over were living in the UK in 2012, a group the organisation calls the "very old".

There were 264 women for every 100 men aged over 90, it said. Out of the 13,350 centenarians living in the UK in 2012, 660 were aged 105 years and older, while England and Wales had the most 100-year-olds.

Comments

This is a very big increase in life expectancy and statistics that have to go with this should include data about health of these people and their quality of life

3 Replies

Author: Guest

Posted: 2014-03-22

+1

Another thing to consider is that this is now changing nature of Britain's population with more than half a million people aged 90 and over were living in the UK in 2012
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Author: Guest

Posted: 2014-03-22

+3

Quality of life and a need of care is what needs to be assessed in order to see these new figures as the good news! Some believe that with the ageing population there was a "real crisis in care" as the number of older people receiving social care support had fallen by "more than a quarter since 2005". Reply

These figures highlight again that more research into ageing, accompanied with medical applications, is the next important area of investment
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Author: Guest

Posted: 2014-03-22

+1

Medical research has largely focused on finding genetic markers of disease. The genetics of good health are also important. We should try to understand the mechanisms that help keep people healthy and protected from disease, and to translate key discoveries into improvements in patient care.

I am currently finiihsng up my BA in Child Development and Family Studies and thus far I have only work with children from 2 weeks to adolescent while helping support their families. The Physician that I would want to work under is an Obstetrics (OB) because they are in direct contact with pregnant women and their children during pregnancy. I would choose this particular specialty for a variety of reason such as having the opportunity to see individuals become parent for the first time, seeing how much love is surrounded in the process, being there to help the mothers while there in a vulnerable state. One of my main reasons is because I think that the whole birthing process is fascinating and to be able to be a part of family’s lives while going through this process, I imagine to be extremely rewarding.A of physician specialty that I would least want to work with would be a psychiatrist. Although I believe that psychiatrist do some spectacular work and help a lot of people through difficult situations I personally believe that this job would be to emotionally draining and overwhelming for me. This makes me question whether or not I would be able to handle it. When I set out to do a job my goal is to do the best that I can and I don’t feel that I could successfully do this job to the best of my ability.
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